November 2018
YachtWorld and Boat Trader – Promote Your Listings: Capture your competitors’ audience with Promoted Listings. Here’s how: Select the boat you want to advertise and for $500/month your boat will receive 100,000 impressions and an estimated 150 additional listing views. This ad performs 3X better than a standard display ad. Learn more: YachtWorld Promoted Listings and Boat Trader Promoted Listings.
BoatWizard App at Boat Shows: Deliver more value to your clients at your next boat show with the app. With just a tap, email a listing from the MLS, provide accurate pricing and market data from SoldBoats, upload and edit boat features, and show listing performance reports to clients. Download now at the App Store and on Google Play.
The Boat Trader App Is Here: Boat Trader fans are FANatics! They are actively engaged with the new Boat Trader app, generating 2X more sessions than visitors to the desktop, 3X more listing views per visit, 9X more clicks to call, and 7X more email leads. Spread the news and enjoy the app today, available on iTunes and Google Play.
The New boats.com: The new boats.com is a reimagined shopping experience that addresses one of the industry’s biggest challenges: Keeping boat shoppers, particularly first-time boat buyers, in the purchase funnel. Check out the new boats.com today and shop by activity with the new BoatFinder feature.
Email Leads Reporter: Never miss an email lead with the new Email Leads Reporter in BoatWizard. You can now generate an Excel report from BoatWizard, which includes your last 30 days of email leads. To access this report, click on the Reports tab in BoatWizard and then click on Download Your Leads.
August 2018
Live – YachtWorld Premium Placement: We have created a new ad placement that is delivering great brand advertising and valuable boat listing views. The ad is located at the top of the Search and Browse pages and is targeted by geographical region and the class of the boat the shopper is searching for. Learn more about Premium Placements
Earn 1% Cash Back: We are excited to announce the new YachtCloser Financial Broker Loyalty Program. On your first boat loan referred and funded through YachtCloser Financial we will pay you a 1% referral fee. The more you refer after that, the more you’ll earn. Learn more about the program and benefits.
Boat Trader Sponsored Boats Deliver: Boat Trader recently enhanced the Browse page to include Sponsored Boats. By including Sponsored Boats on the Browse page, consumers now see more listings. Dealers who have their boats sponsored, now receive 2X more boat detail pageviews. To learn more about Sponsored Boats, visit our Enhancements Page here.
Local Call Numbers Win: We recently upgraded all toll-free numbers to new local phone numbers. Local numbers build trust in shoppers because they are able to correlate the seller with their geographical area. Research has shown improved lead volumes with localized phone numbers. We look forward to an improved call lead experience.
What Data Can Tell You: We have recently automated a Monthly Performance Report email. This report is sent to all customers and includes — Total Impressions, Views, Connections, Leads, Your Top Viewed Boat, and Your Least Viewed Boat. This data informs advertising decisions you can make to help you sell more boats. Click here for more
YachtWorld – Leads Convert to Sales: Info-Link compared Boats Group leads to U.S. boat registrations and found that 1 in 8 people who submitted a lead on YachtWorld between 2014 and 2017, purchased a boat. The study also reveals that 12% of boats sold in the US were purchased by people who submitted a lead on a Boats Group portal. Click here for more
Boat Trader – Leads Convert to Sales: Info-Link compared Boats Group leads to U.S. boat registrations and found that 1 in 5 people who submitted a lead on Boat Trader between 2014 and 2017, purchased a boat. The study also reveals that 12% of boats sold in the US were purchased by people who submitted a lead on a Boats Group portal. Click here for more
May 2018
360-Degree Listing Photos: You can now include 360-degree photos with your listings on YachtWorld. Simply go to the Photos & Videos section in BoatWizard and add any saved 360-degree photo you have to your listing. Listings with 360-degree media receive 30% more repeat visitors than listings without.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): Due to the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) passed by European lawmakers, we are proactively working on many initiatives to be 100% compliant. This involves the acceptance of our new terms & conditions by you, our Boats Group industry partners. Please click here to learn more.
Improved Reporting: We’ve updated BoatWizard reports to show how your enhancements are performing and how prospects are finding your boats. Access to this data helps you monitor performance, then fine tune your campaigns to maximize sales.
Broker and Dealer Websites: We’ve upgraded broker and dealer websites to offer homepage video and a new Financing Lead Dashboard. With 30-35% of connections coming to broker and dealer websites, it’s more important than ever to showcase inventory and engage with prospects quickly. Continue to make the most of your site by visiting our expanded Knowledge Base and join weekly webinars led by our team of experts.
Email Sign-Ups: We’ve added an email collector on Boat Trader for subscribers to receive new listings near them. Personalized emails have a 41% higher click rate than emails without any personalization. This leads to more traffic and engagement with your listings.
BoatWizard CRM Group Emails are being Discontinued: Beginning on May 25th, the Group Email feature in BoatWizard CRM will be discontinued and no longer available. This is being done in compliance with specifications in the CAN-SPAM act and the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Please export any and all distribution lists before the aforementioned date. To do so, please follow these steps:
- Go to the CRM tab within BoatWizard
- Click on the Group Email tab listed to the right of the Templates tab
- Click on the distribution list you would like to export
- Under the Choose Action drop down menu, select: Export Entire Distribution List
Once you select to export the entire list, a download should automatically begin. The list will be downloaded in CSV. format. You will need to repeat the above steps for each distribution list you would like to export and save.
If the download does not begin automatically, please check your pop-up blocker settings to allow the site to display pop-ups
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your account manager.
February 2018
New Boats “I Like” Feature: Consumers can now save boats they like by clicking the heart icon located in the top right hand corner of the listing. This new feature improves the overall consumer shopping experience and increases engagement with your listings.
Engines for Sale: It is now easier than ever for consumers to shop for engines on Boat Trader. We added an engines tab to our homepage search and have seen a 50% increase in leads for engines since. For more information about listing your engines on Boat Trader, please contact your sales rep or account manager.
B.L.A.S.T. Now Available with YachtCloser: YachtCloser is now integrated with B.L.A.S.T. data from BoatWizard. Your listings can be pre-populated with manufacturer specs and descriptions, saving you even more time!
Increased Listing Views Through A/B Testing: We are continuously testing our user experience to deliver more leads, visits and engagement with your inventory. Recently we tested new designs on the browse page to display more listings. This test yielded a 5% increase in listing pageviews and an overall improvement to the consumer shopping experience.
December 2017
Improved Site Speed and User Experience with AWS: Our sites were migrated to Amazon Web Services (AWS) in November. As a result, we’ve seen a significant improvement in site speed and stability. Users now experience quicker page load times, resulting in more engagement and interaction with your listings.
Enhanced Images in the MLS: Images within a listing in the MLS can now be enlarged and shown with captions. The new gallery is also easy to navigate, with back and forth arrows on all images so you can scroll and quickly get to the photos of your choice.
New Photo Gallery in Listing Emails: Listing Emails now include a “Photo Gallery” button which takes you to a new tab with all of the listing’s images. This gallery is similar to the new gallery in the MLS with enlarged images, captions and an easy to scroll navigation.
Improved Uploads for BoatWizard Headshots: Headshots for your BoatWizard Profile and Printable Listings can now be uploaded directly from your computer. This improvement makes it easier to brand your listings and showcase your inventory alongside your contact information.
November 2017
New Brochures: Our new BoatWizard printing layouts have a fresh new look and take only a few clicks to generate. These new designs focus on an easy-reading experience so clients can see important information quickly.
New Make Entry Feature: Makes will now be selected via a drop-down menu when building a listing in BoatWizard’s Inventory Management Tool. This change will help create a consistent list of brands on YachtWorld, making it easier for buyers to find your boats.
Improved Site Performance Through A/B Testing: Boats Group is currently testing our user-experience to increase leads, listing views, and visits to your inventory all through small design changes to our site. For example, adding a call-to-action at the end of the photo gallery increased email leads by 10%.
